Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/21

RELIEF. more buidensoiiie iniidents of wardshiii and marriage, it attai'lii'd not cmly t(i lands held liy knighfs service, but was levied eiiually <)ii Uie heir of socage lands. Originally of indelinite amount and depending largely on tile arliilrary will of the lord, it was at an early [H'riod lixed and regulated by statute. Of all the incidents of feudal (enure, it had the longest life, not only surviving the gradual disappearance of military tenures, but being e.xprcsslj' .saved in the slatute of 12 Charles II. (ItiOO), which abolished tenure in chivalry and relieved all tenures of their more burdensome incidents. The right of relief was never expressly abrogated, but it has fallen into desuetude in England, and there is no evidence that it was ever e.xereised in the United States. See Feudal Texike; Incident.

RELIEF SCUTLPTURE. That form of sculpture in which the objects represented project from the surface or background. In the fine arts the term relief is used to signify any projection of figures from the surface; it is so used in painting for the apparent projection of forms and masses from the background, in architecture for projection of decoration, and in a similar manner in ceramics, goldsmith's work, etc. The term is, however, mostly employed in reference to sculpture. Relief sculpture differs from sculpture in the round in that it is attached to the background, from which the latter stands free, being visible from all sides. It is not alwajs possible, however, to distinguish the boundaries between these two chief classes of sculpture. See Sculpture.

The two principal varieties of relief sculpture arc: high relief, usually known by the Italian name allo-relicvo {q.v. ), in which the objects project strongly from the background; and low relief (Italian, basso-relievo; French, bas-rclicto), a surface ornamentation in which the projection is very slight. Midway between the two is serai-relief (Italian, mezzo-relievo; French, demi-relief), in which the figiires are fully roimded, but without detached portions, Stiaceiato (Italian, crushed, flattened) is the slightest form of relief, being little more than scratchings upon the .surface, while in the hollow relief icavo-relievo) (q.v.) the contours of the figures are carved below the surface of the background. In nearly all relief work figures and background are of the same material, though there are some examples to the contrary in best Greek art, and in Chinese and .Japanese decorative work. The materials generally used in larger relief work are marble, bronze and sometimes terra eotta, and in smaller decorative work the precious metal and stones, enamel, ivory, wood, etc.. are more connnon. Reliefs were almost universally colored by the Egyptians and in classical antiquity and partly in early Christian art. This practice prevailed in wood, terra cotta and stucco work during the Ciothic and Renaissance periods, while marble and stone were not usually colored.

Relief is that form of sculpture which most resembles painting, with which it has composition and perspective in common. In the history of relief work, therefore, the practice has swayed between purely plastic and pictorial principles. Relief was practiced contemporaneously with sculpture in the round by the early culture peoples, like the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hittites. The Egyptians made a very wide use of cavo-relievo. The Greeks conceived relief in a purely plastic sense and achieved the highest mastery of it. Distinguishing strictly between high and low relief, they used the former between the Iriglyphs, and in the lymi)ana of the temples, but the latter in friezes, gnive stones, and the like. Purely decdrative principles were strictly followed, the space being adeqiately tilled, the ba<kgroiMd never carved, and the heads of the figures at the same height. (See (iitlCEK Art.) During the Hellenistic period a more picturesque and dramatic composition was practiced, and subjects were carved in the backgrounds—a practice which in Ronuin times degenerated into the use of several dilVcrent planes of reliefs. Picturesque relief attained its most perfect development at Florence during the Renaissance, in such works;is the ISaptistery doors of Ghiberti and the marble ])ulpit of Santa Croee by Renedetto da Majano. In these works all the qualities of fiainting except color were repro(luoed. Donatello, Luca della Robbia and other sculptors of the Renaissance followed plastic laws more strictly. bit during the entire Raroque period, picturesque ])rin<iples prevailed to such;in extent as to ])recludc any real style of relief. At the beginning of the nineteenth c<'nturv Thorwaldsen, inspired by the study of .ttic grave monuments, brought back relief to its proper plastic function. Since that time excellent relief work has been done in Europe by modern ( German sculptors like Ranch and Rietsehel and by Frenchmen, like .lules Dalou, and also in the United States, The present tendency, however, is to neglect the distinction between high and low relief and to give rather undue emphasis to pictorial qualities.

RELIEF SYNOD. See Presbyterianism.

RELIG'IO MED'ICI (Lat., A Physician's Religion). A prose work by Sir Thomas Browne (lt)43). Written about 1035, but not for publication, which was necessitated by an unauthorized edition in 1642, this prose poem is the devout musing of a scholar and man of science, and withal a mystic, who sought a Divine presence in nature and in all conditions of his own life. The first part treats of Faith and Hope. The second, on Charity, shows a tolerance unusual in that day.

RELIGION (Lat. relifiio, probably from reli(j(in to bind fast, from re-, back again, anew + liyore, to bind), Comparative. The science which treats of religions from an historical and comparative point of view. Its methods are first descriptive, then historical, and finally comparative. The descriptive part of comparative religion discusses in detail the actual phenomena, or any particular phenomenon, presented by religions, and includes treatments of individual religions. Even in such an individual discussion, the comparative method must be employed if the phenomena presented by the religion in question are to be correctly interpreted. While the descriptive part of the science is confined, strictly speaking, to the statics of religion, that is, to the jjhcnomcna observable at any specified time, the historical aspect considers the development of a single faith from its origin or from its earliest ascertainable manifestation to its extinction, or absorption into other religions, or the latest development which it has attained. The historical side of comparative religion, therefore, is evolutionary in character. The